Hibernia platform: Investigation launched after near-miss incident

An investigation has been launched following a near-miss incident with the potential for fatality on the HMDC-operated Hibernia platform offshore Canada, according to a Canadian offshore petroleum regulator.

The Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board (C-NLOPB) said on Monday that the incident occurred on the Hibernia Management and Development Company-operated (HMDC) Hibernia platform on 13 May 2021.

The incident occurred during platform cargo operations on Hibernia, when two workers were attempting to connect a 10’ x 8’ container lifting bridle to an approximately 10m pennant line assembly, off of the East pedestal crane main hook. The pennant line assembly consists of a D Ring, wire rope and hook.

The container had been landed unevenly on a cantilevered deck and needed to be adjusted. While the crane operator attempted to manoeuvre the main hook into position, the main hook contacted a structural beam causing the hook to move from a vertical to a horizontal position, which caused the 5kg D Ring to slide past the spring-loaded latch on the crane main hook and fall approximately 10m.

The entire pennant line assembly came to rest on the container, approximately 1.5m away from the closest person.

There were no injuries. Only authorized personnel were inside the exclusion zone. Due to the container taking up the whole footprint of the cantilevered deck, there was no potential for personnel to be directly under the pennant line assembly when it fell. There were also two structural beams between the lift and the location of personnel inside the exclusion zone.

The regulator pointed out that the Hibernia incident had the potential for fatality, based on the Dropped Objects Prevention Scheme (DROPS) calculator.

HMDC ceased all crane operations and has initiated an investigation into the root cause of the incident.

The C-NLOPB is monitoring HMDC’s investigation of the incident.

The shareholders of Hibernia Management and Development Company (HMDC) are: ExxonMobil Canada (33.125 per cent), Chevron Canada Resources (26.875 per cent), Suncor (20 per cent), Canada Hibernia Holding Corporation (8.5 per cent), Murphy Oil (6.5 per cent), and Equinor Canada Ltd. (5 per cent).